Feds say O.C. woman secretly worked for China, surveilled son of Taiwan’s president

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An Orange County real estate agent who was detained Sunday at LAX now faces federal charges, with authorities alleging she spied on the president of Taiwan’s son for the People’s Republic of China.

Prosecutors say Wanying “Heather” Zhang, 34, a real estate agent based in Irvine, followed the Taiwanese president’s son, traveling to Seattle last year and relaying information about his movements to Chinese government officials.

Zhang was taken into custody Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport, where she was allegedly planning to board a flight to China, First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a social media post.

“The central allegation here — that Zhang, at the behest of the People’s Republic of China, covertly surveilled relatives of a high-ranking foreign government official in the United States — is deeply troubling,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “The National Security Division and U.S. Attorney’s Offices, along with the FBI and other law enforcement partners, will remain vigilant against threats like this on our soil.”

Zhang is charged in a criminal complaint with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. She was expected to appear in federal court Monday. Her deputy public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an affidavit filed with the complaint, Kevin Holt, a special agent with the FBI, alleged that Zhang and another person, at the direction of Chinese officials, traveled to Seattle last year and photographed and gathered information about a close relative of a Taiwanese government official.

The FBI said in a social media post that Zhang had surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son, Lai Ting-yu, and his family last year in September. She allegedly filmed their home and vehicles and reported information back to handlers.

“Protecting our national security means confronting foreign governments that engage in covert operations in our nation,” Essayli said. “Ms. Zhang acted at the direction of Chinese government officials to spy on the family of a senior Taiwanese official here in the United States.

According to the complaint, on Aug. 29, 2025, Zhang and another individual flew from John Wayne Airport in Orange County to Las Vegas. They then flew from Las Vegas to Seattle on Sept. 1 and rented a black 2025 Nissan Rogue SUV.

Prosecutors allege that Wanying “Heather” Zhang of Irvine traveled to Seattle in 2025 and surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official. (Department of Justice) Security camera footage from a neighbor shows that Zhang and the other person arrived at the surveillance target’s home around 4:50 p.m. and waited in the rented car, Holt said.

When the man and his family, including children, arrived around 6 p.m., security camera footage captured Zhang and the person holding up their phones “in a manner indicating that they were taking pictures and/or videos of the family,” Holt said.

Holt said that based on WeChat messages they reviewed, while Zhang was outside the home, she allegedly exchanged messages with a Chinese government official.

“Saw him. Young male. It’s that young one,” Zhang allegedly wrote, later adding that she was making a video recording.

Zhang allegedly later sent two license plates to the official, which Holt said were registered to the target of their surveillance.

The office of Taiwan’s president did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Holt noted in the complaint that although Taiwan has its own democratically elected government, “PRC President Xi Jinping has vowed to unify Taiwan with China.”

“To do this, China has prioritized modernizing its military … to retake Taiwan by force, if necessary,” Holt wrote. “In addition to modernizing its military, the PRC has embarked on coercive activities that go beyond normal diplomatic, economic, and security activities, which are meant to erode Taiwan’s will to fight a war against China.”

If the Chinese government wanted to obtain leverage over the president, Holt wrote, “the location and pictures of the close relatives of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official, including pictures of their homes and cars, could be useful.”

Zhang’s arrest comes months after Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of China. Wang admitted that she was directed by the Chinese government to promote propaganda in the United States between 2020 and 2022, according to court filings.

Zhang lives in Irvine with her husband, Edric Ding, who is also a real estate agent.

Reached by phone, Ding declined to speak about the arrest.

“I don’t want to talk to you guys,” Ding told a reporter before hanging up.

According to the complaint, federal authorities reviewed records from iCloud accounts associated with Zhang and “Individual 1,” including texts. Through those records, Holt said, investigators learned that Zhang attended the University of International Relations in Beijing.

“Based on public reporting, I know that UIR is closely affiliated with China’s intelligence apparatus,” Holt said in the affidavit.

Holt wrote that Zhang kept in contact with a former classmate at the university, a purported Chinese government official, since graduating around 2014. The two spoke about their children, investments and differences between the U.S. and China, Holt wrote.

That classmate — identified only as PRC Official 1 — later introduced Zhang to another government official, according to Holt.

Zhang and the other person, identified in court records as PRC Official 2, allegedly met in June 2025 in China, when, Holt said, they discussed a “U.S. house.”

Holt said that the following month, Zhang messaged PRC Official 2 that she was busy with work in L.A. but would “probably go to Seattle next week.”

“OK. Thank you for your hard work,” the official allegedly responded.

Salvador Hernandez is a reporter on the Fast Break Desk, the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news team. Before joining the newsroom in 2022, he was a senior reporter for BuzzFeed News, where he covered criminal justice issues, the growing militia movement and breaking news. He also covered crime as a reporter at the Orange County Register. He is a Los Angeles native.

Brittny Mejia is a Metro reporter covering federal courts and immigration for the Los Angeles Times. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2021 for her investigation with colleague Jack Dolan that exposed failures in Los Angeles County’s safety-net healthcare system. She joined The Times in 2014.

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